Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea's most widely used messenger app KakaoTalk, said Tuesday it began running its latest mobile application that offers taxi-booking services for luxury vehicles, following a two-week test run.
  

Introduced late last month, KakaoTaxi Black is a high-end cab-hailing tool for smartphone users that takes a customer to a requested destination via a Mercedes or Lexus, for a minimum fare of 8,000 won ($7), compared to 3,000 won charged for general taxis.
  

It is now available through an upgrade of Kakao's existing taxi-calling app KakaoTaxi via Google Play or iPhone App Store, the company said. The upgraded version will come with an additional menu for KakaoTaxi Black.
  

The creation of KakaoTaxi Black is seen as a sign for Kakao to monetize its mobile apps to strengthen its profit sources amid weak earnings.
  

The launch of KakaoTaxi Black drew heated attention in South Korea as it involved negotiation processes with existing industry players as well as approval from the government.
  

Unlike Uber, a similar app from the U.S. that faced strong opposition from the industry here, Kakao made swift moves to forge a joint partnership with local taxi drivers' associations and engaged in talks with the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
  

Kakao said earlier it is looking to expand the number of available vehicles to a few hundred by the end of this year, with other vehicles added to the list including Korean-made cars. (Yonhap)